Aleister Crowley

The astrology of Aleister Crowley has always fascinated me, as has the Western Hermetic tradition.“He was called the wickedest man in the world by some and one of the greatest mystics of our age by others.”Astrodatabank. Was he really such an evil person? It seems he was cursed by more than your average dark demons from looking at his chart. All the dark stars, Liliths and planets figure. He saw himself as a prophet for a new religion based on “Do what thou wilt”called Thelema.

Crowley experimented with homosexuality, taking the female role. He said he was straight though. For him the Magick power came from it being taboo. That’s a refreshing take, one that allows for sexual experimentation without the guilt. It makes him an interesting candidate for Lilith/Dark Goddess examination in my view.

Crowley’s Horoscope

The first thing I wasn’t surprised to see is that he had a double yod. One from thevertex sextile Venus to apex Pluto. Pluto is on Capulus, extreme male sexual energy, and still within orb of Algol, the star with the worst reputation in the sky, responsible for all manner of evil. This winking Medusa star Algol is at the apex of a Yod. Pluto on Capulus in a Yodis very phallic and potent. It suggests sadism which could be cathartic and exorcising for him.

The other Yod is fromMoon sextile Plutoback to apex Venus, this one is actually a Boomerang Yod with the reaction point being Chiron in opposition to Venus. I do see Yods as being wands of energy. The first Yod is more like a sword, the destroyer. The second more like a wand, the creator.

Pluto being involved in both is fitting being the lord of the underworld and all things dark and taboo especially with the Perseus stars Algol & Capulus. To havePluto sextile the Moon in the occult 8th too fits him very well and Venus quincunx Plutoalso accounts for his obsessive and intense sex life. Venus is said to be Lucifer, the bringer of light in Babylonian myth. Chiron being the reaction point in the second Yod is very fitting also. It therefore is the midpoint of his taboo Hades Moon. Sexual healer, maverick and mystic.

Minor Grand Trine

Pluto is also involved in a minor grand trine to the Moon at the apex. This is trined Mars on the star Facies= ruthlessness or the victim. He is the victim of demonization for sure.Mars on Facies, trine Pluto on Capulus looks like he needed to be ruthless to live the unconventional life he led.

But the Moon is the midpoint of Mars trine Pluto, the intuitive, compassion of the Moon brings the best out of these two along with Algol. (The Lilith star) This is just a very occult and magical combination. Crowley, like Mary Magdalene or any strong, sexual, spiritual person who makes themself a“god”will always be branded as evil.

He has a good Mercury, the symbol of Hermeticism, on the star Zuben Elgenubi, in the claws of the Scorpion. This is said to give positive social reform. He certainly wanted to reform religious practice. His Mercury quincunx MC (11′) and trine Eris (33′) For the establishment he was (like Eris), a kind of uninvited 13th fairy who stirs up trouble. He also had a tight Uranus/Saturn opposition (23′) with rebellious, eccentric Uranus in his first house. He is closer to the innovative Uranus, but he successfully marries these two with his sensitive 4th house Sun which trine’s Saturn (17′) and sextiles Uranus (06′)

Lilith On Antares

Of course exiled Black Moon Lilith had to be important. This“Mary Magdalene” is trined his destiny path North Node (22′) But the big deal is Lilith is both conjunct AND parallel Antares.This is like a double whammy. Extra strong here in the heart of the Scorpion, one of the mighty 4 Archangel stars, Ariel. This Scorpionic star is constantly regenerating itself, going to extremes of life and death, purging itself, like the Phoenix from the flames.

With Lilith this would certainly mean a no holds barred attitude. Whole heartedly throwing himself into each new life experience, unafraid of being burnt. It gives great success, but warn’s if you get carried away with the thrill-seeking you can loose everything.

*I have used the 11.30pm time given in “Astrology, Aleister & Aeon” by Charles Kipp. Rather than the 11.42pm given in Astrodatabank. It is believed Crowley rectified the 11.30pm time himself and as the Vertex is important I will stick with this one. Though if we DO take Astrodatabanks time, instead of the second Yod we a get a grand trine with Lilith/AC and North Node. But I see Crowley as very much a dynamic Yod person rather than a harmonious trine one.

18 thoughts on “Aleister Crowley”

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Jane Lyle :
.Perhaps Uranus acts as a kind of radio receiver, broadcasting its messages through the human channel?

Thanks interesting. I have always seen it as that. Its glyph reminds me of a television ariel.

Yes I think people with strong Uranus are as you say mediums/channels for the Zeitgeist. Think that would include Uranus aspecting the AC tightly by hard angle or conjunct a luminary also.
I also think of the 60’s generation born with the Uranus/Pluto conjunction, who have that aspecting angles or personal planets will be instrumental in getting us through this Uranus/Pluto square.

maybe it takes another layer of consciousness – to sense beyond duality and not giving the judgements or cultural-flavoured eductionism from others the space to make such deep imprint our own intuitive reactions
just like Karen the Crowly tarot was guidance for me searching for a individual direction ..

Taking a sidereal perspective from the Vedic tradition, I have a hard time buying into the 11:30pm birth time because 11:42pm makes a lot more sense given the nakshatras and the houses that the nodes are in. 11:30pm, gives Aleister a rising sign in Pushya nakshatra, and this is a far, far too sattvic and gentle of a sign for the Great Beast. 11:42pm, puts him square into the cunning and manipulative kundalini-ruled Ashlesha – the serpent – and when one looks at his life closely, and his behavior, Ashlesha lagna seems far more likely than Pushya. Also, with Ashlesha he has moon and rahu in the 8th house of the occult, sex, and death, rather than the 9th house. With rahu joined moon there, there would be much power and even fame (or infamy) in what that house rules.